Crochet?! Design?!

A few weeks ago we hosted the Williams Carnival Alpine events at our local mountain. The carnival is always a great chance to see some fantastic skiing. What I didn’t expect was to see some fun fiber-work as well! As I saw the racers at lunch time I noticed a few of the girls were wearing purple and gold headbands that looked handmade. I didn’t want to stare, but I tried to take note of the design. Basically it was a widish band that had a braid in the back. I mentioned them briefly to E and she immediately asked if I could make one for her. Why does it surprise me when she asks me these questions?

I later visited the alpine team’s blog (thank goodness for the internet) and saw the headbands there too. I took a leap and sent the assistant coach (and blog owner) an email asking about them. Turns out they are indeed handmade and one of the racers made them for the whole team! I sent her a note, but never heard back – so I decided to take a crack at making it up as I went along. As I stared at the pictures I thought they looked crocheted. This didn’t bode well, because while I can crochet enough to do a nice edging, I’ve never crocheted an entire item. I don’t think I’ve even ever finished a granny square. So, I decided to give it a whirl. I asked Eliza what colors she would like and was reminded that pink and green were her colors. So, because I seem to lack patience, I got on line and ordered some from The Loopy Ewe. I chose Cascade 220 for it’s multiple colors and consistent nature (and because ski head wear-tends to get thrown around and tossed in a lot of bags).

It arrived quickly as usual, and I had to open it right away!

After some discussion to determine what color was the body and what color would be the trim I decided to wing it and start double crocheting. In one week I’d finished it. I really need to figure out what I’m doing with crochet, because I do like how quickly it moves for me. Of course once I finished it, I found more pictures of the girls in their headbands, and it appears that it may actually be garter stitch knit with a crochet trim. So I may need to do another. Which isn’t that hard to imagine because one our friends saw it today and loved it and wanted to know if I’d make her one too. She was kind of joking, but she is such a nice person I’d really like to do that. So, as soon as I can pick some colors out for her (and her daughter – who is a good friend to Eliza) I think I’ll give the garter stitch version a whirl.

I finished it last night and left it on her ski bag, so when she discovered it this morning I heard, “You finished it? I LOVE IT!”
I did drag the poor kid out this afternoon to take a couple of pictures.

She’s a great model, because she turned before I asked and pulled up her hair to show the braid.

One of the funniest moments? She usually skis with her hair braided down the back. So this morning she had to pull out her braid, so she could put in a high ponytail. Because that’s how the Williams racers wore theirs.